GIFT   OF 
STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 


REPORT 


OF   THE 


Folsom  Highway  Commissioners. 


COMMISSIONERS: 


C.  A.  LUHRS.  P.  C.  COHN.  N.  H.  LAURIDSON. 


SACRAMENTO: 

A.  J.  JOHNSTON,  :::::::  SUPERINTENDENT  STATE  PRINTING. 

1899. 


REPORT 


FOLSOM  HIGHWAY  COMMISSIONERS. 


SACKAMENTO,  CAL.,  December  1,  1898. 

To  His  Excellency  JAMES  H.  BUDD,  Governor  of  the  State  of  California, 
and  to  the  Members  of  Thirty-third  Session  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  California: 

Your  Folsom  Highway  Commissioners,  appointed  under  the  provis- 
ions of  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the 
construction  of  a  State  highway  or  wagon  road  from  Sacramento  City 
to  Folsom,  in  Sacramento  County,  and  appropriating  crushed  rock  and 
granite  or  stone  blocks  for  drains  and  culverts  for  the  same,"  approved 
March  29,  1897,  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows: 

That  said  Act  contained  no  appropriation  in  money,  and  this  Com- 
mission directed  a  communication  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the 
County  of  Sacramento,  requesting  said  board  to  call  a  special  election 
in  Sacramento  County  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  the  people  of 
that  county  the  authority  to  issue  bonds  of  said  county  in  the  amount 
of  $75,000  for  the  construction/of  said  roadway  provided  in  this  Act. 

Under  the'advice  of  Attorney-General  W.  F.  Fitzgerald,  communicated 
to  this  Commission  and  forwarded  by  us  to  the  said  Board  of  Super- 
visors, that  board  proceeded  to  and  did  call  a  special  election  in  said 
county  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  authority  from  the  people  of  that 
county  to  issue  bonds  of  said  county  in  the  amount  of  $75,000  for  the 
purpose  of  the  construction  of  the  roadway  provided  in  that  Act. 

At  the  special  election  held  in  said  county  on  the  fourth  day  of 
December,  1897,  for  that  purpose  and  throughout  said  county,  includ- 
ing the  City  of  Sacramento,  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  in  and 
throughout  the  County  of  Sacramento,  including  the  City  of  Sacra- 
mento, was  5,952,  of  which  there  were  cast  5,104  in  favor  of  and  848 
votes  against  said  proposition;  and  the  total  number  of  votes  cast  in 
the  City  of  Sacramento  was  4,175,  of  which  there  were  cast  3,832  votes 
in  favor  of  and  343  against  said  proposition;  and  in  the  county  outside 

242616 


4  ,      ,  SlBH)^  '0^    ^QL^QM .  HIGHWAY    COMMISSIONERS. 

of  the  City  of  Sacramento  there  were  cast  1,777  votes,  of  which  there 
were  cast  1,272  votes  in  favor  of  and  505  votes  against  said  proposition. 
The  bonds  were  ordered  issued  by  said  Board   of   Supervisors,  and 
were  ready  for  issuance. 

To  test  the  validity  of  the  proceeding  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
and  the  right  of  said  board  to  issue  bonds  for  that  purpose,  an  amicable 
proceeding  was  instituted  in  the  Superior  Court  of  Sacramento  County, 
and  a  judgment  adverse  to  the  legality  of  the  bonds  was  rendered.  An 
appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  an  opinion  was  handed  down 
and  rendered  by  that  court,  in  which  it  was  declared  that  Boards  of 
Supervisors  were  prohibited,  by  the  provisions  of  Section  2  of  the  Act 
of  1883  (Statutes  1883,  page  20),  from  issuing  bonds  for  such  purposes. 
We  have  failed  in  the  construction  of  this  roadway  for  the  reason  that 
no  funds  were  provided  for  the  construction. 

Our  investigations  show  that  the  sum  of  $75,000  would  have  been 
required  to  build  the  roadway. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

CHARLES  A.  LUHRS, 

P.  C.  COHN, 

N.  H.  LAURIDSON, 

Folsom  Highway  Commission. 
CHAS.  T.  HUGHES, 

Secretary. 


YC  69022 


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